WCBN
Encyclopedia
WCBN-FM is the student-run radio station
of the University of Michigan
. Its format is primarily freeform. It broadcasts at 88.3 MHz FM
in Ann Arbor, Michigan
.
radio programming. "Freeform" radio format is best described as an approach that allows the individual radio programmer (or DJ) maximum, if not complete, latitude, in determining what is broadcast from moment to moment. In practical terms this may mean that a listener may hear a number of different kinds of music in the course of a single program, often chosen spontaneously during that same program; but a listener might just as easily hear live broadcasts from a field with sounds of crickets, a radio play, poetry, or spontaneous political protest. The AP national newswire covered one such protest in November, 1980 when a DJ on the station began playing Lesley Gore
's "It's My Party
(and I'll Cry if I Want To)" continuously for hours when President Ronald Reagan was first elected. Other DJs joined in and the protest ended up lasting for a number of days.
WCBN was created in 1952 when three existing carrier current
broadcasting systems on campus pooled resources. WCBN-AM college radio could be tuned to in University buildings at 650 kHz. Programming was coordinated between the existing broadcast facilities.
In 1956 WCBN hosted the first meeting of the National Association of College Broadcasters
.
Until 1958, South, East and West Quad had separate transmitters, each on a different frequency, as well as one on the Hill, with a loop connecting the three studios. In 1958 John Maurer built a limiter and switching device so that sound was constant and could be switched by any studio to feed all transmitters and was wired by Cliff Vander Yacht. Dave Mills had constructed the Hill transmitter the year before and tested it at National Music Camp during the summer. Some years before, the Federal Communications Commission
FCC had allocated the call sign even though the carrier current transmitters were not licensed. (CVY)
In 1965, the WCBN operations were consolidated in the newly completed Student Activities Building.
In early 1971 a proposal was approved by the Board of regents to expand the station to FM Radio. On January 23, 1972 WCBN-FM went on the air at 89.5 MHz with a 10 watt transmitter. At this time the carrier current station adopted the new callsign WRCN, and programming was divided.
WCBN was moved to 88.3 MHz by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) in 1977.
Beginning in 1980, the station began holding regular annual on-air fundraisers to supplement its University support. The first fundraiser was organized by then-General Manager Ann Rebentisch and lasted for 88.3 hours, with a goal of raising $8830, nearly doubling the station's funding. The event culminated on Valentines Day with a free concert of local bands for all who had pledged to donate.
WCBN's transmitter was upgraded to 200 watts in 1987, an FCC action that was delayed for several years after some disgruntled former station volunteers filed an extensive complaint letter which turned out to contain mostly erroneous information. The power increase had been deemed necessary after the FCC began threatening to reassign frequency positions of 10-watt Class D (Educational) stations like WCBN.
In addition to on-air studio productions, WCBN also has a rich history of local concert sponsorship, recently hosting performances by Jad Fair
, Sunburned Hand of the Man
, Mount Eerie
, The Books
, and Jandek
.
While WCBN's programming format is primarily freeform, its also specialty programs focusing on specific styles or origins of music including Dance Hall Reggae
, Nothin’ but the Blues
, the extremely eclectic country program The Down Home Show, the Bluegrass
show Bill Monroe
for Breakfast, the techno
show Crush Collision, and the Hip hop
show The Prop Shop. Several of these programs have aired continuously for over 20 years. Sunday programming consists mainly of specialty shows featuring the music of Africa, Asia, India, Israel and the Middleast, Japan, Turkey and the Mediterranean. The weekly, 2 hour Local Music Show features local artists performing live in-studio.
WCBN also broadcasts locally and nationally produced news, sports and issues programming, such as nationally produced FAIR
's CounterSpin
, and Free Speech Radio News
as well as Dave Emory's commentary show For the Record
. The locally produced LGBT
issues program Closets R4 Clothes has aired since 1975. Experimental children's radio program The Show and Tell Machine was started in 2006 by Brendt Rioux.
The WCBN News Department was revitalized beginning in 2004, when a group of students converged to conduct live coverage of the presidential elections. Out of this grew a more long term project called BlackBox Radio, which produced over 50 episodes of its weekly show. BlackBox radio stopped production in 2006.
WCBN also features a Sports Department. WCBN Sports covers all Michigan athletics, local and national professional teams, and national and international sporting events. WCBN broadcasts Michigan football, basketball, hockey, baseball, softball, and volleyball. The Sports Department runs a Monday evening show called Extra Points, Daily Sports Reports Tuesday-Thursday, and a Friday evening Game of the Week show that features live athletics and sports talk, trivia, and other novelty segments. In 2009, WCBN was the official voice of University of Michigan volleyball.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
of the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. Its format is primarily freeform. It broadcasts at 88.3 MHz FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
.
History
WCBN is one of the longest-standing continuous practitioners of primarily free-formFreeform (radio format)
Freeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
radio programming. "Freeform" radio format is best described as an approach that allows the individual radio programmer (or DJ) maximum, if not complete, latitude, in determining what is broadcast from moment to moment. In practical terms this may mean that a listener may hear a number of different kinds of music in the course of a single program, often chosen spontaneously during that same program; but a listener might just as easily hear live broadcasts from a field with sounds of crickets, a radio play, poetry, or spontaneous political protest. The AP national newswire covered one such protest in November, 1980 when a DJ on the station began playing Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore is an American singer. She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit "It's My Party", which she recorded at the age of 16. Following the hit, she became one of the most recognized teen pop singers of the 1960s.- Biography :Gore was born in New York City, New York. She was raised in...
's "It's My Party
It's My Party
It's My Party may refer to:*"It's My Party" , a 1963 number-one single by Lesley Gore*It's My Party , a 1996 film*It's My Party , a weekly reality TV show broadcast by RTÉ in summer 2006...
(and I'll Cry if I Want To)" continuously for hours when President Ronald Reagan was first elected. Other DJs joined in and the protest ended up lasting for a number of days.
WCBN was created in 1952 when three existing carrier current
Carrier current
Carrier current is a method of low power AM radio transmission that uses the AC electrical system of a building to propagate a medium frequency, AM signal to a relatively small area, such as a building or a group of buildings...
broadcasting systems on campus pooled resources. WCBN-AM college radio could be tuned to in University buildings at 650 kHz. Programming was coordinated between the existing broadcast facilities.
In 1956 WCBN hosted the first meeting of the National Association of College Broadcasters
National Association of College Broadcasters
The National Association of College Broadcasters , was founded in 1988 by students at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Jumpstarted by a $300,000 grant from the now-defunct CBS Foundation, thanks to connections through the father of co-founder Doug Liman, NACB became the first trade...
.
Until 1958, South, East and West Quad had separate transmitters, each on a different frequency, as well as one on the Hill, with a loop connecting the three studios. In 1958 John Maurer built a limiter and switching device so that sound was constant and could be switched by any studio to feed all transmitters and was wired by Cliff Vander Yacht. Dave Mills had constructed the Hill transmitter the year before and tested it at National Music Camp during the summer. Some years before, the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
FCC had allocated the call sign even though the carrier current transmitters were not licensed. (CVY)
In 1965, the WCBN operations were consolidated in the newly completed Student Activities Building.
In early 1971 a proposal was approved by the Board of regents to expand the station to FM Radio. On January 23, 1972 WCBN-FM went on the air at 89.5 MHz with a 10 watt transmitter. At this time the carrier current station adopted the new callsign WRCN, and programming was divided.
WCBN was moved to 88.3 MHz by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) in 1977.
Beginning in 1980, the station began holding regular annual on-air fundraisers to supplement its University support. The first fundraiser was organized by then-General Manager Ann Rebentisch and lasted for 88.3 hours, with a goal of raising $8830, nearly doubling the station's funding. The event culminated on Valentines Day with a free concert of local bands for all who had pledged to donate.
WCBN's transmitter was upgraded to 200 watts in 1987, an FCC action that was delayed for several years after some disgruntled former station volunteers filed an extensive complaint letter which turned out to contain mostly erroneous information. The power increase had been deemed necessary after the FCC began threatening to reassign frequency positions of 10-watt Class D (Educational) stations like WCBN.
In addition to on-air studio productions, WCBN also has a rich history of local concert sponsorship, recently hosting performances by Jad Fair
Jad Fair
Jad Fair is an American singer, guitarist and graphic artist, most famous for being a founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese.-Biography:In 1974, with his brother David, Jad Fair founded the lo-fi group Half Japanese...
, Sunburned Hand of the Man
Sunburned Hand of the Man
Sunburned Hand of the Man are a band from Massachusetts that formed in 1997 from the remnants of the Boston psychedelic punk trio Shit Spangled Banner....
, Mount Eerie
Mount Eerie
Mount Eerie is an Anacortes, Washington-based band fronted by Phil Elverum. Elverum is the principal member of the band, but he has collaborated with many other musicians on his records.-History:...
, The Books
The Books
The Books are an American duo, formed in New York City in 1999, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong. Their releases typically incorporate samples of obscure sounds and speech...
, and Jandek
Jandek
Jandek is the musical project of an anonymous outsider musician who operates out of Houston, Texas. Since 1978, Jandek has self-released over 60 albums of unusual, often emotionally dissolute folk and blues songs without ever granting more than the occasional interview or providing any biographical...
.
Programming
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, Nothin’ but the Blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, the extremely eclectic country program The Down Home Show, the Bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
show Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
for Breakfast, the techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
show Crush Collision, and the Hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
show The Prop Shop. Several of these programs have aired continuously for over 20 years. Sunday programming consists mainly of specialty shows featuring the music of Africa, Asia, India, Israel and the Middleast, Japan, Turkey and the Mediterranean. The weekly, 2 hour Local Music Show features local artists performing live in-studio.
WCBN also broadcasts locally and nationally produced news, sports and issues programming, such as nationally produced FAIR
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting is a progressive media criticism organization based in New York City, founded in 1986.FAIR describes itself on its website as "the national media watch group" and defines its mission as working to "invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity...
's CounterSpin
CounterSpin
CounterSpin is a weekly, half-hour radio program produced by the progressive media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting . It is hosted by Janine Jackson, Steve Rendall, and Peter Hart, and describes itself as offering "a critical examination of the major stories every week exposes what...
, and Free Speech Radio News
Free Speech Radio News
Free Speech Radio News is an independently produced half hour daily national and international radio news program focusing on peace and social justice issues in the US and around the world. FSRN is collectively run by its workers and reporters...
as well as Dave Emory's commentary show For the Record
For the Record
For the Record is a two-disc, 44-track greatest hits package released by the American country music band Alabama.The album chronicles the biggest hits from Alabama released between 1980 and 1998. The lineup includes all 33 of their Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles & Tracks No...
. The locally produced LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
issues program Closets R4 Clothes has aired since 1975. Experimental children's radio program The Show and Tell Machine was started in 2006 by Brendt Rioux.
The WCBN News Department was revitalized beginning in 2004, when a group of students converged to conduct live coverage of the presidential elections. Out of this grew a more long term project called BlackBox Radio, which produced over 50 episodes of its weekly show. BlackBox radio stopped production in 2006.
WCBN also features a Sports Department. WCBN Sports covers all Michigan athletics, local and national professional teams, and national and international sporting events. WCBN broadcasts Michigan football, basketball, hockey, baseball, softball, and volleyball. The Sports Department runs a Monday evening show called Extra Points, Daily Sports Reports Tuesday-Thursday, and a Friday evening Game of the Week show that features live athletics and sports talk, trivia, and other novelty segments. In 2009, WCBN was the official voice of University of Michigan volleyball.
Other information
- In addition to its FM broadcast, WCBN can be heard via the InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
at wcbn.org. - The University of Michigan also funds and operates the NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
station WUOM-FMMichigan RadioMichigan Radio is a network of three public radio stations operated by the University of Michigan through its broadcasting arm, Michigan Public Media. The station is a founding member of National Public Radio and an affiliate of Public Radio International and American Public Media...
, which is run as a service to the community and does not directly involve students in its operation. - Ken Freedman, general manager of the longest continuously-operating freeform radio station, WFMU-FMWFMUWFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, broadcasting at 91.1 MHz FM, presenting a freeform radio format...
, worked at WCBN from 1977 to 1983 and was the DJ who marked the election of Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
by playing Lesley Gore'sLesley GoreLesley Gore is an American singer. She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit "It's My Party", which she recorded at the age of 16. Following the hit, she became one of the most recognized teen pop singers of the 1960s.- Biography :Gore was born in New York City, New York. She was raised in...
"It's My Party (And I'll Cry If I Want To)It's My Party (song)"It's My Party" is a song most famously sung by American singer Lesley Gore in 1963. This song hit #1 on the pop and rhythm and blues charts in the United States. "It's My Party", peaked at #9 in the United Kingdom, becoming Gore's only major hit there...
. - Author Mary GaitskillMary GaitskillMary Gaitskill is an American author of essays, short stories and novels. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, Esquire, The Best American Short Stories , and The O. Henry Prize Stories .-Life:Gaitskill was born in Lexington, Kentucky...
DJ'd at WCBN while attending the University of Michigan. - John Sinclair (poet)John Sinclair (poet)John Sinclair is a Detroit poet, one-time manager of the band MC5, and leader of the White Panther Party — a militantly anti-racist countercultural group of white socialists seeking to assist the Black Panthers in the Civil Rights movement — from November 1968 to July 1969...
hosted a Jazz program named "Re:Visions" in the late 1970s. - Gilda RadnerGilda RadnerGilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...
was weather girl at WCBN from 1965 to 1966. - WCBN's alumni include Ted Oberg (reporter for KTRK-TVKTRK-TVKTRK-TV, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Houston, Texas...
, Houston, TexasHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
) , Fanchon Stinger (former morning anchorwoman at WJBK-TV), and Beth Fertig (education reporter for WNYCWNYCWNYC is a set of call letters shared by a pair of co-owned, non-profit, public radio stations located in New York City.WNYC broadcasts on the AM band at 820 kHz, and WNYC-FM is at 93.9 MHz. Both stations are members of National Public Radio and carry distinct, but similar news/talk programs...
, New York).
External links
- Bill Monroe for Breakfast on Arborwiki